Thoughts on repair seminars?

[Sudds]

So... I'm contemplating sending the guy that is taking care of my mat to one of the upcoming seminars. I taught him everything that I was taught and I have learned through my years of customer service experience plus my coming up on 3 years of mat ownership.

He has one quite well and has increased his R&R times to an impressive level. To date we've been able to repair and diagnose all of our mat issues, with an occasional nudge from this and other mat related websites (Thanks to the members that have helped for that btw).

I still think it might be worth it for him, myself, and the business to go and participate in a seminar for him to gain more self confidence plus whatever else he's able to assimilate.

How many owners, managers, maintenance folks have done this and did you find it worth the effort? Is there one repair seminar that is better than another? Thanks all in advance. Thanks.

[Howard]

I went to Wascomat in NY when I first bought my store and it was quite valuable. Every newbie should do this, even if they don't plan on doing their own repairs as they will have a better idea if they are being treated correctly by repair people.

My only question is do you really need this after three years of owning a store. I would think at this point you have probably run into just about every possible problem and already know what you need to know. It can't hurt to go, I just don't know how much it will help at this point.

[STOUT]

Even though I also have someone to help me on repairs. I have gone to some repair schools and it has been valuable for me. Especially when they show some tool that helps with a particular repair issue to help speed up the process. It is amazing to me what new tools they come up with to speed up the repair time.

[Sudds]

Originally Posted by Howard

I went to Wascomat in NY when I first bought my store and it was quite valuable. Every newbie should do this, even if they don't plan on doing their own repairs as they will have a better idea if they are being treated correctly by repair people.

My only question is do you really need this after three years of owning a store. I would think at this point you have probably run into just about every possible problem and already know what you need to know. It can't hurt to go, I just don't know how much it will help at this point.

No, the seminar is not for me. I'm sending the guy that takes care of my mat. I don't know if you are aware but I'm on long term assignment working in the Pacific Northwest. My mat is on a complete diagonal opposite of where I am at. Neverthelss we've been managing quite well. One of the benefits of owning a 24 hour unttended location. In a few months, it will be 2 years that I've been on this side of the country while my mat remains in operation.

I keep very busy, not to mention the time change. To me, it's important that my guy is able to keep doing what he's doing, build upon his skills and give us both a measuring stick of what he has done.

This is why I was asking if there was a seminar or training that was better than another. I appreciate the replies guys.

[silver56]

Originally Posted by Sudds

This is why I was asking if there was a seminar or training that was better than another. I appreciate the replies guys.

As someone who does not yet own his first 'mat I none the less went to an Alliance training in Ripon, WI recently. I thought it was very valuable but I'm starting my knowledge base from scratch. It was a 3-day affair and very comprehensive. Good class on diagnosing problems and going over schematics to help solving issues that come up.

Highly recommended.

Over the course of this year I'm looking to take Wascomat, Dexter and some other classes to get myself familiar with the equipment manufacturers.

[laundryboy2]

Are you sending to a factory training or at the distributor? Both would be helpful, especially if you've been doing repairs. The factories are very in-depth, while the distributor sessions may answer and provoke questions but much less in depth (diagnosing, clear drains, ect)

[surfflite]

I've been to a couple of distributor repair seminars. They were informative, however the machines they used to demonstrate were brand new and not at all similar to my 7 year old machines so it was hard for them to "replicate" the problems I see.

I've really wanted to go to Ripon, WI to Alliance and do their service school. Just haven't had the time to do it.